Cricket's heroes have been found everywhere in 2020, without them we might be telling a different story

SAM MORSHEAD: Today, we unveil the winners of Lockdown Heroes - judged by a public vote and a panel of Cricketer writers - but every single person who contributed to cricket's survival through the summer of 2020 is a hero in their own right...

As the rain fell at Southampton, and Sky Sports dipped into their archives to replay the magic and mayhem of Headingley, the contrasting environments of back then and right now could have barely been more stark.

On TV screens, in bright sunshine, stood Ben Stokes, chest pumped and arms outstretched, commanding the guttural roar of the Western Terrace. 

Behind, in the real-life confines of the bio-secure Ageas Bowl, lay sodden covers, pinned down in harsh winds. Gone were the fans, gone was the fun, gone was the frivolity.

Cricket, as a spectacle, has been forced into a state of non-stop sterility in 2020 which has extended right the way down the game - from the international players restricted to one-way systems in their own hotels to the village cricketers asked to bathe the ball in sanitiser three times per hour. 

Process and procedure, understandably, has taken priority over experience and enjoyment. No one is to blame - save, perhaps, for a handful of wet market merchants many thousand miles east - but everyone stands to lose. Cricket, like all sports, is about much more than the basic mechanics of the game. Sure, the premise is most runs wins - but the community and carnival that comes with it is often so much more important.

^{Cricket has had to adapt to a new way of life this year}

That is why this season has been such a challenge; yes, cricket has taken place. But it is not the cricket we love.

Still, our game is at least emerging through its most miserable summer in generations intact, if in need of substantial triage.

That has only been made possible by the commitment, creativity and compassion of the people who run the game - and I’m not just talking about the ECB.

For while the governing body has done extraordinary work - a full international men’s summer, the creation of 25 new female professionals, a hastily arranged women’s international schedule, ensuring cricket was the first team game to be permitted at grassroots level, the establishment of semblances of domestic seasons for men and women, and being among the first sports to welcome fans back to venues - without the efforts of thousands of volunteers up and down the country, the game we love would be falling down the ravine right now, rather than tiptoeing around its edge.

It is with this in mind that, in May, The Cricketer launched Lockdown Heroes, a nationwide hunt to find the men, women and children who have gone above, beyond, to Mars and back to ensure their little pocket of cricket has stood up, bared its chest and slapped Covid-19 off the back foot to the cover-point boundary.

It has been incredibly moving, and often life-affirming, to have chaired the process; to have read the stories; to have learned about the selflessness of the cricket community from Dorset to Durham, from Kent to Cumbria.

LOCKDOWN HEROES: THE WINNERS - Read the stories of our five category champions

The Cricketer received more than 400 nominations across five categories, telling tales of actions big and small - from one-man pavilion renovations to immense fundraising initiatives, dedicated coaches taking on huge workloads to keep children interested in the game to kids to taking it upon themselves to keep their clubs afloat.

These people are the Ben Stokes of 2020, the heroes who did special things when the deck was stacked against them.

Today, we unveil the winners - judged by a public vote and a panel of Cricketer writers - but every single person who contributed to cricket’s survival through the summer of 2020 is a hero. Every stalwart who mowed the grass and painted the fences, every administrator who figured out how to get junior training going, every member who hosted a Zoom quiz to keep spirits high, every fundraiser who ran or cycled or swam or shaved their head to pump cash back into club coffers, every parent who took their child to the common with a tennis ball, every coach who stayed late at their own expense to make sure no one went without encouragement.

The game does not function without you. Thank you. 

The spirit of cricket is so often talked about in passing, lazily and without substantiation. 

In 2020 we’ve seen what it really means, and, without it, we might have been left to tell a very different story.